If but a moment
by The most beautiful of lies
Summary: If but a moment to say goodbye forever...here is what I would tell her...


August 24, 2014

Hinata Hyuga,

Hyuga Mansion,

Kanoha.

Hinata,

Hinata…I am not a man prone to writing how I feel, but in this instance, I find myself feeling the urgent need to do just that. When given this mission, I did not know when I would be back….or if. So many times, I found myself at your clan's gate, itching to jump over the fence and come to you. Every time your cousin, sister or a servant would run me off, I'd wait until their scent was gone and sneak back around. I wasn't trying to stalk you, Hinata, though in writing this I realize that's what it seems like. Please believe me when I say, that wasn't my intentions. I wanted to just get a glimpse, if even for a moment of your beautiful face, see your smile. I wanted to hear your sweet voice, a sirens call to my heart.

Hinata, I know that I have never said this in person….nor likely would I ever have been able to if I made this out alive. But….all the jokes about you and Naruto….all the teasing about saying he was there when he wasn't, implying that he and Sakura were on dates when they were late. Teasing about when you blushed, the crimson staining your cheeks to glowing….all of that was to heal my wounded heart. I sought to give you pain and discomfort to ease my own. My guilt, my fruitless desire, my desperate hunger.

From the first time I noticed that overly shy and sensitive little girl in the academy…then later in my team…I knew. I knew that you alone held my heart, Hinata. It was always you. Always will be you, forever. It's been a secret I carry with me, much like the picture of our team, close to my heart whenever I go into battle. Yours is the name I whisper first thing when I rise, the last when I lay down my head at night.

He probably never told you this, but I once approached your father with the question of dating you. I thought then and there that he would use your clans Gentle Fist to stop my heart. But…how can you stop a heart that's already dead? I ask myself that very same question every time I feel myself becoming angry with my lot in life.

Through the years I've known you, Hinata, I have seen the way you look at Naruto. The admiration in your eyes….almost a sort of hunger. Like a woman thirsty, you drink him in. One smile, one look and you're floating about the clouds….and yet, you fear talking to him. I understand that fear…I too harbor it with you. Carry it within the deepest reaches of my heart and mourn at its existence. Well…do not fear anymore, Hinata. After you have read this letter, set it down. Burn it. Do whatever you want with it. And go to him. Tell him how you really feel. Tell him you love him if that's what your heart desires.

If you will excuse me two sense, Hinata….I do not believe it is love. Now, in this moment as I write this letter I can say that. What you feel for Naruto is a type of hero worship. He is someone who you can look up to, much like a little girl desires to look up to her father and see a protector. A friend. Some one who loves them unconditionally and knows without thought, without question….no matter what happens, your father will be there to protect you. You, Hinata, did not have that luxery and so you replaced the image an desire of a father figure onto Naruto. His heart lies with Sakura, you do realize. You must realize. To chase him would be fruitless, Hinata! You should close your heart to him and let it go! Realize it for what it is. The infatuations of a little girl wanting to be loved by the one she cannot have!

As you read this, you might ask yourself, what does he know of love? What I know of love, Hinata, is what you have taught me. Love is patient, waiting in the shadows to be seen and heard. Love is never giving up on your family and friends, even in the most darkest of hours. When all hell breaks loose, you get up and keep going. Love is having the courage to take your heart from your chest and lay it at the feet of the one you want to be with.

This is me laying my heart at your feet, Hinata. Much too late, I know that now and will regret it in my final moments. Do not long mourn my passing, Hinata. I lived, fought and died for not only Kanoha, but you. The core reason I fought was so you could live and grow old. Get married and have many children. Just be happy, Hinata! That is my last wish. I will not go into detail as to how I became gravely injured…but know that the last name I spoke as I lay here…..was you. My team mate….my friend…my lost soul….Hinata. I will be waiting for you among my ancestors. I say goodbye with a heart full of love. Please, watch out for Akamaru for me? Please tell each other every day that you love one another, tell him for me too. Goodbye, dear sweet Hinata…..and please forgive every wrong I've done you. Even the formality of these words. I guess in death a sweetness and grace can be found, even in the most wild of men. Goodbye, Hinata….for now. Just or now….know that I will always love you.

Kiba Inuzuka.

_The last of the words written, the pen falls from lifeless fingers. Eyes once so wild and full of hope finally close. Succumbing to his wounds, the friends and family with him are able to hear one last word. The name of the one who holds his hand the tightest. The name of the one who's just began to notice the real him. The one who knows, no amount of tears can bring him back…._

"_Hinata…"_


End file.
